A long time ago, I decided that I just wasn’t a fan of curtains. The idea of adding some color or pattern to a room seems nice, but in reality, it doesn’t every work in my spaces. Yes, I like when someone else uses curtains, but for some reason curtains and I are not friends. In our first house, I had white linen curtains in our dining room for about a year or two. And they were okay, but not great. And then in this new house, I bought curtains and hung them in our bedroom, only to take them down the very next day. And aren’t curtains just big dust collectors? One of my favorite things about owning an old home is the windows. 100 year old Craftsman windows are huge with beautiful wide trim around them. I felt like curtains just covered up all the pretty wood work.

Our living room is a gigantic room with 9 windows!!! It really has 3 walls of windows. When we bought the house, there was striped, satin-like curtains hung on ornate curtain rods. I knew they had to go, but trying to figure out what to replace them with was not an easy task. I tried some pretty linen colored drapes for a day or two thinking that the gold and blue stripe was what was bothering me. But no, even the simplest curtain panel just didn’t feel right. I just didn’t want to hide all that pretty unpainted wood trim.

So, I started hunting for non-curtain options and I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you. In our last house, we had cellular blinds in almost every room. In our master bath and kitchen, I made fabric roman shades (which I super time consuming to make). So, I started looking into shade options. One of the the windows in the living room is 8 feet wide though, so anything we were going to install had to be custom.

I began looking at Hunter Douglas cellular shades and discovered SO MANY amazing options. I’m talking about stylish, high tech options that are so much better then any mini-blind or curtain out there.

Having to turn to a custom option, because of the size and age of our windows, Hunter Douglas gave me a lot to consider. You aren’t stuck just figuring it all out on your own, they have dealers all over the country. And actually the paint store I often visit even has a Hunter Douglas display room and a dealer. Here’s some of my favorite shade options and why I’d consider them.

1. Fabric Vane Shades – These sheer shades allow light to filter in and still offer privacy. I like this option because we live on a main street, and while I love natural light flooding in, I also don’t want the whole neighborhood to know what I’m up to. These also have a modern, minimal feel. And I love that you can see through these shades even when they are down.
2. Fabric Roman Shades – Roman shades are a classic look. And they come in more options then you can imagine. But, I wonder if 8 feet of fabric across a window will feel heavy and cumbersome in our house. I also don’t know that we need complete black-out or privacy for this room.
3. Roller Shades – Roller Shades are clean and slick looking. They roll away to almost nothing, leaving no bulk of fabric or shade at the top of the window. They come in every color and pattern. They are very practical, but I feel like there are really only two options with these shades – open or closed.
4. Adjustable Fabric Vane Shades – Everything I love about #1, but even more adjustable. These shades tilt to allow light to come in a different angles. I love the idea of privacy and filtered light all at the same time. And these shades also have no cords or pulls, they are completely automatic and can even be operated from your phone!
5. Cellular Shades – I’ve long been a fan of these honeycomb shades. We lived with them for 13 years in our first house. They are neat and tidy and the almost disappear when they are pulled all the way up. We also found that these shades helped insulate our house from the heat and cold. If you live with 100 year old windows, you know that this is very important. These also come in every color possible, but I’m sure a classic neutral would be my first pick.
6. Woven Texture Roman Shades – These shades have all the classic features of a traditional fabric roman shade, but also the pretty texture of natural fibers. They have the look of grasscloth, but all the shade and ease of a Roman Shade. I feel like these natural textures and tones would work really well with all the wood trim in our house.

So, many amazing choices, I can’t wait to share with you what we pick. Stay tuned. What would window treatment would you consider for our windows? Are you are curtain or non-curtain person?

Now, let’s take a look at the before.  Don’t you think we can do better?

And how about those curtain rods? And yes, the blue/green walls are gone.

This post is sponsored by Hunter Douglas, thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible.